المجالس العاشورية في المآتم الحسينية

Sheikh al-Saduq, may God's mercy be upon him, narrated from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman, from his father, from Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), who said: While I, Fatima, Hassan, and Hussein were with the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), he turned toward us and wept. I asked: What makes you weep, O Messenger of God? He said: I weep for what will be done to you after me. I asked: And what is that, O Messenger of God? He said: I weep for the blow you will receive upon your head, and for Fatima being struck upon her cheek, and for the stab Hassan will suffer in his thigh, and for the poison he will be made to drink, and for the killing of Hussein. He said: Then all the household wept. I asked: O Messenger of God! Has our Lord created us only for affliction? He said: Rejoice, O Ali, for God Almighty has made a covenant with me that none shall love you but a believer, and none shall hate you but a hypocrite.
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How excellent are the words of al-Sharif al-Radi, may God's mercy be upon him, when he says:

This is the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) who wept for him and lamented him before the day of his killing—so how would it have been had he been present on the tenth of Muharram? Had he been present, he himself would have been the one consoled, so may God comfort his heart in his grief over Hussein (peace be upon him). Indeed, some of his wives and some of his companions saw him in a dream after the killing of Hussein (peace be upon him), and they saw him weeping, grief-stricken in heart, disheveled and dust-covered for the affliction of Hussein (peace be upon him). It is narrated that Salma said: I entered upon Umm Salama while she was weeping, and I asked: What makes you weep? She said: I saw the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family)—meaning in a dream—with dust upon his head and his beard, and I asked: What is wrong with you, O

Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family)? He said: I have just witnessed the killing of Hussein.
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Ammar ibn Abi Ammar narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said: I saw the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) as a sleeper sees, at midday, disheveled and dust-covered, in his hand a vial containing blood. I asked: May my father and mother be your ransom, O Messenger of God, what is this? He (peace be upon him and his family) said: This is the blood of Hussein and his companions; I have been gathering it since this day. So that day was reckoned, and it was found that he had been killed on that very day.
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It is narrated from Amir ibn Sa'd al-Bajali, who said: When Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him) was killed, I saw the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) in a dream, and he said: If you see al-Bara' ibn Azib, convey my greetings to him and inform him that the killers of Hussein ibn Ali are in the Fire, and that God is about to wipe out the people of the earth from him with a painful punishment. He said: So I came to al-Bara' and informed him, and he said: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) has spoken truly. The Messenger of God said: Whoever sees me in a dream has indeed seen me, for Satan cannot take my form.
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It is narrated that Ibn al-Hubariyya the poet passed by Karbala and began to weep for Hussein and his household (peace be upon them), reciting verses:

Then he slept in his place and saw the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) in a dream, who said to him: "O so-and-so, may God reward you well on my behalf. Rejoice, for God has recorded you among those who strove before my son Hussein (peace be upon him)."
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How excellent are the words of Sheikh Salih al-Kawwaz, may God's mercy be upon him, when he says:

The Fourth Gathering, of the First Day
The Weeping of Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) and His Grief for His Father, Imam Hussein (peace be upon him)
It is stated in some of the visitations of the Imams (peace be upon them): O my masters, had al-Mustafa beheld you, with the arrows of the nation sunk deep into your livers, their spears thrust into your throats, their swords drenched in your blood, the sons of harlots quenching the thirst of their wickedness against your piety and the fury of their disbelief against your faith—and you between one slain in the prayer-niche, his skull cleaved by the sword, and a martyr upon the bier whose shrouds were pierced with arrows, and one slain in the open whose head was raised upon a spear, and one shackled in prison whose limbs were crushed with iron, and one poisoned whose entrails were torn apart by gulps of poison.
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So we belong to God, and to Him we shall return, and there is no power and no strength save in God, the Most High, the Most Great.

It is narrated from Bishr ibn Hadhlam that when Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) returned from captivity and intended to enter Medina, he sent him ahead to them, and so he announced the death of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him). He said: There remained in Medina

no veiled or secluded woman who did not come forth from her seclusion, weeping, wailing, and striking her face. No day was seen more bitter for the people of Medina than that one. They asked me: Who are you? I said: I am Bishr ibn Hadhlam. Ali ibn al-Hussein sent me, and he is staying at such-and-such a place with the family of Abu Abdullah and his women. He said: So they left me where I was and rushed off. I spurred my horse until I returned to them, and I found that the people had taken to the roads and gathered places. I dismounted and made my way through the crowd until I drew near to the door of the tent. Ali ibn al-Hussein was inside, and he came out holding a cloth with which he wiped his tears, and a servant with him carrying a chair. He set it down, and he sat, overcome by his anguish. The people consoled him, and he gestured to them to be silent, so their tumult subsided. Then he (peace be upon him) said: Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, Master of the Day of Judgment, Creator of all creation, who is so exalted that He rose high above the lofty heavens, yet so near that He witnesses every secret whisper. We praise Him for the grievous matters, the calamities of the ages, the immense loss, and the great afflictions.

O people, God—to whom is all praise—has afflicted us with a grievous calamity and a great breach in Islam. Abu Abdullah was killed, along with his family, and his women and children were taken captive, and they paraded his head through the lands, raised high upon a spear.

O people, which of your men can rejoice after his killing? Or which eye among you can hold back its tears and withhold their flowing? For the seven mighty heavens wept for his killing, and the seas wept, and the heavens and the earth, and the trees and the fish, and the angels brought near, and all the dwellers of the heavens.

O people, which heart does not break for his killing? Or which soul does not yearn for him? Or which ear can hear of this breach that has been made in Islam?

O people, we have become expelled, driven away, banished, cast far from the lands, as though we were the children of the Turks or of Kabul, without any crime we committed or any offense we perpetrated. We have never heard

of such a thing concerning our forefathers of old. This is nothing but a fabrication. By God, had the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) urged them to fight us as he urged them to care for us, they could not have done more than they did. So we belong to God, and to Him we shall return.
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The narrators have recounted that Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) wept for his father Hussein (peace be upon him) for twenty years, and no food was ever set before him without his weeping, until a servant of his said to him: O son of the Messenger of God, is it not time for your grief to come to an end? He said to him: Woe to you! Jacob the Prophet (peace be upon him) had twelve sons, and God caused one of them to vanish from him, and his eyes turned white from the abundance of his weeping over him, and his head turned grey from grief, and his back became bent from sorrow—while his son was still alive in this world. Yet I looked upon my father, my brother, my uncle, and seventeen of my household, slain around me—so how can my grief ever end?!
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It is narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him), who said: Ali ibn al-Hussein (peace be upon him) wept for twenty years, and no food was ever set before him without his weeping, until a servant of his said to him: May I be your ransom, O son of the Messenger of God, I fear that you will be among those who perish. He said: I only complain of my anguish and grief to God, and I know from God what you do not know. Whenever I recall the slaying of the sons of Fatima, tears choke me.

It is said that he wept so much that there was fear for his eyes, and whenever he (peace be upon him) took a vessel to drink water, he wept until he filled it with tears. When asked about this, he said: How can I not weep when my father was denied the water that was freely available to wild beasts and animals? And it was said to him: You weep throughout your lifetime; were you to kill yourself, you could not do more than this. He said: It is my soul I have slain, and for it I weep.
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From Muhammad ibn Sahl al-Bahrani, raising it to Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), who said: The weepers are five: Adam, Jacob, Joseph, Fatima the daughter of Muhammad, and Ali ibn al-Hussein (peace be upon them). As for Adam, he wept for Paradise until furrows like valleys formed upon his cheeks. As for Jacob, he wept for Joseph until he lost his sight, and until it was said to him: "By God, you will not cease remembering Joseph until you are wasted away or are among those who perish."
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As for Joseph, he wept for Jacob until the people of the prison were troubled by him, and they said: Either you weep by day and are silent by night, or you weep by night and are silent by day. So he settled with them on one of the two. As for Fatima the daughter of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), she wept for the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) until the people of Medina were troubled by her, and they said to her: You have troubled us with your abundant weeping. So she would go out to the graves—the graves of the martyrs—and weep until she had fulfilled her need, then return. As for Ali ibn al-Hussein (peace be upon them both), he wept for Hussein for twenty years, or forty years, and no food was ever set before him without his weeping, until a servant of his said to him: May I be your ransom, O son of the Messenger of God, I fear for you that you will be among those who perish. He said: I only complain of my anguish and grief to God, and I know from God what you do not know. Whenever I recall the slaying of the sons of Fatima, tears choke me for it.
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Ibn Qulawayh, may God's mercy be upon him, narrated from Isma'il ibn Mansur, from one of the companions, who said: A servant of Ali ibn al-Hussein (peace be upon them both) looked in upon him as he was in a shelter of his, prostrate and weeping, and said to him: O Ali ibn al-Hussein, is it not time for your grief to come to an end? He raised his head toward him and said: Woe to you—may your mother be bereft of you! By God, Jacob complained to his Lord over less than what I have seen, when he said: "Alas, my grief for Joseph!"—and he had lost but a single son, while I saw my father and a whole company of my household slaughtered around me.

He said: And Ali ibn al-Hussein (peace be upon him) used to incline toward the children of Aqil. It was said to him: What makes you incline toward these cousins of yours rather than the family of Ja'far? He said: I remember their day with Abu Abdullah Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him), and so I feel tender toward them.
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Sayyid ibn Tawus, may God's mercy be upon him, said: It is narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) wept for his father for forty years, fasting his days and standing in prayer through his nights. When the time of breaking the fast came, his servant would bring him his food and drink and set it before him, saying: Eat, O my master. He would say: The son of the Messenger of God was killed hungry, the son of the Messenger of God was killed thirsty—and he would keep repeating that and weeping until his food was soaked with his tears, then he would mix his drink with his tears. He continued thus until he met God Almighty.
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It is narrated from Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) that he

It is narrated from Abdullah ibn Dinar, from Abu Ja'far (peace be upon him), who said: He said: O Abdullah, there is no feast for the Muslims—neither the Feast of Sacrifice nor the Feast of Fast-Breaking—except that it renews grief for the family of Muhammad upon it. I asked: And why is that? He said: Because they see their right in the hands of others.
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The narrators agree that Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) was among the most weeping and grieving of the People of the Household (peace be upon them) over Hussein (peace be upon him), because he witnessed the tragedy of Taff with his own eyes and beheld what befell his aunts and sisters of beating and captivity.

Some have said: Whenever a group gathered around him, or a delegation came from the regions, he (peace be upon him) would repeat to them that tragedy and recount to them its events. Sometimes he would go out to the market, and if he saw a butcher about to slaughter a sheep or some other animal, he would approach him and say: Have you given it water to drink? The man would say: Yes, O son of the Messenger of God, we do not slaughter any animal until we have given it to drink, even if only a little water. Then he would weep at that, and say (peace be upon him): Abu Abdullah was slaughtered thirsty.
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The poet al-Hajj Muhammad Ali Al Kammuna, may God's mercy be upon him, says concerning this:

It is narrated that Abu Hamza al-Thumali, may the pleasure of God Almighty be upon him, entered one day upon Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) and found him grieving and sorrowful. He said to him: My master, what is this weeping and distress? Was not your uncle Hamza killed? Was not your grandfather Ali (peace be upon him) killed by the sword? Killing is a custom for you, and your honor from God is martyrdom. The Imam said to him: May God reward your effort, O Abu Hamza. It is as you have said—killing is a custom for us, and our honor from God is martyrdom. But, O Abu Hamza, have your ears ever heard, or your eyes ever seen, that a woman of ours was taken captive or had her veil torn away before the day of Ashura? By God, O Abu Hamza, I never look at my aunts and sisters but I recall their flight through the wilderness from tent to tent,

from shelter to shelter, while the crier cried out: Burn the dwellings of the oppressors.
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How excellent are the words of Sayyid Haydar al-Hilli, may God's mercy be upon him, when he says:

It is narrated that he (peace be upon him) heard one day a man calling out in the market: O people, have mercy on me, I am a stranger. The Imam (peace be upon him) turned toward him and said to him: Were it ordained for you to die in this town, would you remain unburied? The man said: God is greatest! How would I remain unburied when I am a Muslim among a Muslim nation? Then Imam Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) wept and said: Alas for you, O my father—you remained three days unburied, though you are the son of the daughter of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family).
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How excellent are the words of Sheikh Abd al-Husayn al-A'sam, may God's mercy be upon him, when he says:

Sayyid ibn Tawus al-Hasani, may God's mercy be upon him, said: I saw in the Book of Lamps, with its chain of transmission to Ja'far ibn Muhammad (peace be upon him), that he said: My father, Muhammad ibn Ali, said to me: I asked my father, Ali ibn al-Hussein, about how Yazid transported him. He said: He carried me upon a camel that limped, with no saddle, while the head of Hussein (peace be upon him) was upon a banner, and our women behind me upon mules with pack-saddles. The advance party was behind us and around us with spears; if a tear fell from the eye of any of us, his head was struck with the spear—until, when we entered Damascus, a crier cried out: O people of Syria, these are the captives of the People of the Household.
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In another narration, al-Baqir (peace be upon him) said: I asked my father, Ali ibn al-Hussein (peace be upon him), about how they entered upon Yazid, may God curse him. He said: First they kept us standing at one of the gates of the palace for three hours seeking permission from Yazid. Then they brought us in to him while we were bound together with a single rope like sheep, the rope around my neck and the neck of my aunt Zaynab, and Umm Kulthum, and the rest of the women and young girls. Whenever we slowed in walking, they struck us, until they brought us in to Yazid, may God curse him.
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How excellent are the words of Ibn al-Arandas, may God's mercy be upon him, when he says:

Another said:

The Fifth Gathering, of the First Day
The Entry of Di'bil al-Khuza'i upon Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (peace be upon him) during the Days of Ashura
It is narrated from Abd al-Salam ibn Salih al-Harawi, who said: Di'bil ibn Ali al-Khuza'i entered upon Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (peace be upon them both) at Marw and said to him: O son of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), I have composed a poem about you, and I have sworn to myself that I would not recite it to anyone before you. He (peace be upon him) said: Bring it forth. So he recited to him:

When he reached his words:

Abu al-Hasan al-Rida (peace be upon him) wept and said to him: You have spoken truly, O Khuza'i. When he reached his words:

Abu al-Hasan (peace be upon him) began to turn over his palms, saying: Indeed, by God, held back. When he reached his words:

al-Rida (peace be upon him) said: May God grant you safety on the Day of the Greatest Terror. When he came to his words:

al-Rida (peace be upon him) said to him: Shall I not add for you two verses at this point, by which your poem will be complete? He said: Indeed, O son of the Messenger of God. So he (peace be upon him) said:

Di'bil said: O son of the Messenger of God, this grave that is in Tus—whose grave is it?

al-Rida (peace be upon him) said: It is my grave. The days and nights shall not pass until Tus becomes the meeting place of my Shia and my visitors. Indeed, whoever visits me in my estrangement at Tus will be with me in my rank on the Day of Resurrection, forgiven.

Then al-Rida (peace be upon him) rose after Di'bil had finished reciting the poem, and ordered him not to leave his place. He entered the house, and after a while the servant came out to him with a hundred Radawi dinars and said to him: My master says to you: Use these for your expenses. Di'bil said: By God, it was not for this that I came, nor did I compose this poem out of desire for anything that might reach me. He returned the purse and asked for a garment from the garments of al-Rida (peace be upon him) to be blessed and honored by it. So al-Rida (peace be upon him) sent him a robe of silk along with the purse, and said to the servant: Tell him: Take this purse, for you will have need of it, and do not return it to me. So Di'bil took the purse and the robe and departed. He set out from Marw in a caravan, and when he reached Mayan Qawhan, bandits fell upon them and seized the entire caravan and bound its people. Di'bil was among those bound, and the bandits took possession of the caravan and began dividing it among themselves. Then a man of the band recited as a parallel

the words of Di'bil in his poem:

Di'bil heard him and said to him: To whom does this verse belong? He said: To a man of Khuza'a called Di'bil ibn Ali. He said: I am Di'bil, the composer of this poem from which this verse comes. The man leapt up to their leader, who was praying upon the top of a hill and was of the Shia, and informed him. He came himself until he stood over Di'bil and said to him: Are you Di'bil? He said: Yes. He said to him: Recite to me the poem. So he recited it. Then he untied his bonds and the bonds of all the people of the caravan, and returned to them everything that had been taken from them, out of honor for Di'bil. Di'bil traveled on until he reached Qom, and the people of Qom asked him to recite the poem to them. He ordered them to gather in the Friday mosque, and when they had gathered, he ascended the pulpit and recited the poem to them. The people gave him a great deal of money and robes. Then word of the robe reached them, and they asked him to sell it for a thousand dinars, but he refused. They said to him: Then sell us a piece of it for a thousand dinars. But he refused them and departed from Qom. When he had left the district of the town, a group of young Arabs caught up with him and took the robe from him.

Di'bil returned to Qom and asked them to give the robe back, but the youths refused and disobeyed the elders in the matter. They said to Di'bil: There is no way for you to recover the robe, so take its price, a thousand dinars. But he refused them. When he despaired of their returning the robe, he asked them to hand over to him a piece of it, and they consented to that and gave him part of it, and handed over to him the price of the rest, a thousand dinars.

Di'bil returned to his homeland and found that the bandits had taken everything that was in his house. So he sold the hundred dinars that al-Rida (peace be upon him) had given him—he sold each dinar to the Shia for a hundred dirhams—and thus there came into his hands ten thousand dirhams. He recalled the words of al-Rida (peace be upon him): You will have need of the dinars. He had a slave-girl who held a place in his heart, and her eye became severely inflamed. He brought the physicians in to her, and they examined her and said: As for the right eye, there is no remedy for it

and it is lost; but as for the left, we will treat it and strive, and we hope it may be saved.

Di'bil was deeply grieved by this and was greatly distressed over her. Then he remembered the piece of the robe that was with him, and he wiped it over the eyes of the slave-girl and bound it with a band of it at the beginning of the night. By morning her eyes were healthier than they had been before, through the blessing of Abu al-Hasan al-Rida (peace be upon him).
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In a narration from Abd al-Salam ibn Salih al-Harawi, who said: I heard Di'bil ibn Ali al-Khuza'i say: When I recited to my master al-Rida (peace be upon him) my poem that begins:

and when I reached my words:

al-Rida (peace be upon him) wept profusely, then raised his head toward me and said to me: O Khuza'i, the Holy Spirit has spoken upon your tongue with these two verses. Do you know who this Imam is, and when he will arise? I said: No, my master, except that I have heard of the coming forth of an Imam from among you who will cleanse the earth of corruption and fill it with justice. He said: O Di'bil, the Imam after me is Muhammad my son, and after Muhammad his son Ali, and after Ali his son al-Hasan, and after al-Hasan his son al-Hujja al-Qa'im—the awaited one in his occultation, the obeyed one in his appearance. Were there to remain of the world but a single day, God would prolong that day until he comes forth and fills it with justice as it was filled with tyranny and oppression. As for when—that is information about the appointed time. My father told me, from his father, from his forefathers, from Ali (peace be upon him), that it was said to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): O Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), when will the Qa'im come forth from your progeny? He said: His likeness is the likeness of the Hour—"None shall reveal it at its time but He. Heavy it weighs upon the heavens and the earth; it shall not come upon you but suddenly."
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The learned al-Majlisi, may God's mercy be upon him, said: I saw in some of the writings of the later scholars that he said: Di'bil al-Khuza'i recounted, saying: I entered upon my lord and master Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (peace be upon him) during days like these, and I found him sitting in the manner of one grieved and sorrowful, with his companions around him. When he saw me approaching, he said to me: Welcome to you, O Di'bil—welcome to the one who aids us with his hand and his tongue. Then he made room for me in his gathering and seated me at his side. Then he said to me: O Di'bil, I would love for you to recite some verses to me, for these are days of grief that befell us, the People of the Household, and days of joy that befell our enemies, especially the Umayyads. O Di'bil, whoever weeps and makes others weep over our affliction—even for one—his reward is with God. O Di'bil, whoever's eyes shed tears over our affliction, and who weeps for what befell us from our enemies, God will gather him with us in our company. O Di'bil, whoever weeps over the affliction of my grandfather Hussein, God will surely forgive him his sins. Then he (peace be upon him) rose and hung a curtain between us and his womenfolk, and seated the women of his household behind the curtain so they might weep over the affliction of their grandfather Hussein (peace be upon him). Then he turned to me and said to me: O Di'bil, elegize Hussein, for you are our aider and our praiser as long as you live, so do not fall short in aiding us as much as you are able. Di'bil said: So I broke into tears, and my weeping flowed, and I began to recite: